Hațeg Island

Hațeg Island
The waves crashing on the shores of Hațeg Island in the seventh segment of Forests
Location
Supercontinent	Laurasia
Continent	Europe
Country	Romania
Region	Hunedoara County
Temporal Range	100 - 66 million years ago, Cenomanian - Maastrichtian Stage, Late Cretaceous Period
Episodes	Forests (Segment 7) Islands (Segments 1 and 6)
Filmed In	Noah Creek, Daintree Rainforest, northeast Queensland, Australia (Islands, Segment 1) Wells-next-the-Sea, north Norfolk, East of England (Islands, Segment 1) Slickstones Quarry, Cromhall, South Gloucestershire, South West of England (Islands, Segment 1) An island in Maldives (Islands, Segment 6)
Characteristics
Area	80,000 square kilometers (31,000 square miles)
Climate	Subtropical
Temperature	20 - 25 degrees Celsius (68 - 77 degrees Fahrenheit)
Environment	Coastal, Fluvial, Forest, Lacustrine
Notable Areas	Densus Ciula Formation Jibou Formation Sânpetru Formation Sard Formation Sebeș Formation
Was 200 kilometers (120 miles) away from the nearest landmass

“ Even by day, it's still dark in the understory of the dense forests, such as this one in Europe. Animals of any kind are difficult to distinguish. Yet, they're everywhere. ”

― David Attenborough, Forests

Hațeg Island (pronounced as "HAT-seg", hence the name of Hatzegopteryx) is an area that would eventually become a basin in modern-day Romania, recognized for being full of strange animals that shrunk due to insular dwarfism. Ironically, one species, the azhdarchid Hatzegopteryx, would become one of the largest pterosaurs to ever live due to insular gigantism, allowing it to rule as the island's apex predator.

Paleoenvironment

During the Late Cretaceous Period, most of Europe was a series of islands scattered across the prehistoric Tethys Ocean. Hațeg Island, which would one day become a town in Hunedoara County, Romania, was approximately 200 kilometers (120 miles) from the nearest landmass, and is estimated to be 80,000 square kilometers (31,000 square miles) worth of tropical woodland, sustained by braided rivers, lakes, and seasonal monsoons. Much like the area's now-extinct fauna, most of the island's vegetation is entirely different from Romania's plant life today.

A group of Zalmoxes by the shores of Hațeg Island

“ Telmatosaurus seldom breaks cover. And equally inconspicuous, Zalmoxes, the last of a very ancient dinosaur lineage. This forest is one of their few remaining strongholds. Seven inches tall, baby Zalmoxes are no more than snacks for many predators... but snacks are nonetheless worth eating, so they have to be cautious. ”

― David Attenborough, Forests

Hațeg Island, a place that appears to date all the way back to Cenomanian stage of the Late Cretaceous Period (around 100 million years ago), was surrounded by a deep basin, unlike some of the surrounding islands and land masses which were surrounded by shallow seas. This only serves to isolate it even further, with some of its fauna unlike any other seen elsewhere, with the island serving as one of the last sanctuaries to harbor rhabdodontid ornithopods like Zalmoxes. Most of the inhabitants grew smaller due to insular dwarfism, a process in which animals living on an island grow smaller than their cousins on the mainland in response to the limited resources of an island, allowing them to subsist on lesser requirement levels that would otherwise prove insufficient for larger animals.

A Hatzegopteryx walks through a forest in Hațeg Island

“ Hatzegopteryx stands 15 feet tall. It is in fact, a pterosaur, a reptile with wings that, here, as it stalks through the trees, it has to keep tightly folded. This forest, so rich in small creatures, is one of its regular hunting grounds. It stands on the southernmost edge of Europe. ”

― David Attenborough, Forests

Conversely, due to the absence of massive theropods or other large predators and the great availability of animals that are now easier to prey on due to their smaller size, one pterosaur species, through insular gigantism, evolved to become the largest carnivore of Hațeg Island, one of the most robust of the azhdarchids, and one of the most successful Maastrichtian apex predators. The biological phenomenon of insular gigantism is also seen millions of years later in animals like the giant barn owls (Tyto gigantea and Tyto robusta) of Gargano Island, Italy, and the largest eagles to ever exist, the Haast's Eagles of New Zealand.

Appearances

Hațeg Island and the surrounding waters serve as the setting of the seventh and last segment of Forests and the first segment of Islands. It (or a small island just nearby) may also be the setting of the sixth and last segment of Islands.

Paleofauna

Hațeg Island Titanosaur

Hatzegopteryx thambema

Telmatosaurus transsylvanicus

Zalmoxes robustus